‘I decided a long time ago that I was going to pay for saying what I thought’ — Jordan Peterson

This is a ten minute podcast from Canadian Broadcasting recorded in March 2016 before the Canadian government enacted a law last year (2017) that compels citizens to address trans people how they wish to be addressed.

Peterson’s points are basically that 1 — Language has never evolved via legislative fiat and ideology, it evolves over time with repeated use. 2 — Because of identity politics central to the debate, as soon as you allow your political adversaries to define the linguistic landscape and the language you use, you lose. 3 — Its not for governments responding to the pressure of activists to decide what language you use as you go about your day.